Vs. 15 “And I - in righteousness
I will see your face;
when I awake,
I will be satisfied
with
seeing your likeness.”

As the man’s breath and voice returned he said to the doctor, “I am ever so grateful, doctor, how can I ever repay you?”

The doctor smiled and said, “I’ll settle for one-tenth of what you were willing to pay while you were choking.”

Think about the doctor’s response, “I’ll settle for one-tenth of what you were willing to pay while you were choking.”  I would dare to say, that amount would be equal to one-tenth of everything you have.  Yes, everything because that is what I believe most people would be willing to give.

I am sure the parents of the Monmouth girl who was kidnapped this week would have given everything they had for her safe return.   The widows and widowers who lost spouses and the children who lost parents on September 11^th or in any of the wars we fought in would give everything they have if they could change what happened.

When confronted with crisis or adversity we are willing to promise the world to God.   It was during such time that David, wrote Psalm 17. He was being persecuted by Saul.  He prayed to God to intervene on his behave.  He cried to God to bring resolution to his situation.

I call on you, O God,
for you will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer.  Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.  Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings. Rise up, O Lord, confront them,
bring them down;
rescue me from the wicked
by Your sword.

The truth is that when we are faced with a crisis we do what David did.  We ask God to intervene and we promise God the world.  But what happens when the crisis passes?

When the crisis passes, when the feelings of urgency pass, do our promises of serving God pass.  The doctor in my opening story showed great wisdom when he said, “ I’ll settle for one-tenth of what you were willing to pay while you were choking.”

If we could commit to doing one-tenth of what we were willing to do in those moments, most us would ascend to a new level of commitment. Most of us would ascend to a deeper relationship with God.  This is a major point in Psalm 17.

Psalm 17 is more than a plea for justice in the face of false accusations and persecution.  It is a plea for you and I to realize the true goal and reward of life - to know and see God.

And I - in righteousness
I will see your face;
when I awake,
I will be satisfied with
seeing your likeness.

The goal of stewardship is exactly that, to help the believer realize that the true goal and reward of life is to know and see God. Stewardship is not about money.  It is not about time.  It is not about talents.  It is about relationship with God.  Commitment of time, talent and treasure are a poor substitute for a relationship with God.  I would rather see a church growing in their relationship with God than making their budget.  Growing in relationship with God has eternal value.  When one is growing in their relationship with God the rest follows.  Stewardship is the barometer of one’s faith.

We deceive ourselves, individually and as a church when we measure our happiness or contentment by the amount of wealth we possess.  The true measure of happiness and contentment must be found in God’s love and in doing His will.

We all have good intentions.  We have all said IF:

I had more time I get more involved in the church, I would spend time in prayer, in reading the Bible, in helping others;

I had more money I would give more.

If each one of us would commit ourselves to doing one-tenth of our good intentions, we would be richly blessed.  We would ascend to a new level of commitment.  We would ascend to a new level of faith.  We would move forward in faith.  We would ascend to a deeper relationship with God.

There are moments in all of our lives when we are reminded how much we need God and how urgent it is to commit our life to Christ.  All too often those feelings disappear and we quickly revert back to a less than satisfactory level of commitment.

Let us ask God to strengthen us in our resolve to know and see God so with Paul we can say,

“To me, to live is Christ.”